I want to wear beads every day

Chocolate at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science

2012-02-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Saturday I collected on my Christmas present - a seminar on chocolate! We drove up Friday night, so we easily arrived by 9 a.m. for registration. Chef Lionel Clement built a chocolate sculpture from pre-cast pieces. He also answered questions while he worked - I don't know how he did THAT. Fun.

In the afternoon there were a few presentations and a chocolate wine pairing, which was not to my taste at all - flavored bon-bons are not good choices for wine pairings. Carl Keen talked about flavenoid research, and I really want to do some further reading when I get some time. Dove dark chocolates is the take home message. The flavenoid concentration depends on how you prepare the chocolate, and Dove seems to hang on to the most of them. Also the active flavenoids in tea appear to be converted into an inactive form the longer the tea sits at a higher temperature. I will experiment with brewing my tea at a slightly lower temperature to see if I can take advantage of this information. I may as well take health advantage of my addictions.

Woo Hoo! New toys on the way

2012-01-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

My BlackBerry crackled at just the wrong moment last week, causing me to misunderstand a Not instead of the Very Important, and miss a teleconference. I told said boss the speakers were too noisy. Get an iPhone, he offered. And a new printer with a fax (so I don't get customers to send my things to him instead) and a scanner. Welcome to this century! So if you tell me the best apps, I'll appreciate the advice.

Fish Barcode Of Life

2012-01-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/DNAspeciation/ucm266440.htm
Please visit the FDAFish Site for just a minute. There is aBarcode of Life effort underway to post a little bit of the DNA sequence forEVERY organism on the planet. Consideringwe have not identified them all yet, this is pretty ambitious. A global offshoot, known as FishBOL, http://www.fishbol.org/ collects the Fish sequences. I am working with Jon, and he does the work forthis site. Someone sends them a frozenfish, and it gets Authenticated by an ichthycologist. Jon photographs the right side of the fishwith a color bar. Then he removes sometissue from the underside of the fish, where it would not show in thephoto. Then the fish heads for theSmithsonian, where it is stored with a code (Vouchered).

So, what happens ifyou have several individuals of the same species of fish and you find out theDNA sequence is pretty different even though the fish looks the same to theexpert? Some times it gets reclassifiedas a new species. That is why it is soimportant to keep the fish in the museum. You can get it out of storage, check it all out, and reclassify it. Pretty cool, huh?

There is also aneffort underway to do the same process with zoo animals and bush meatconfiscated by customs. You want tovolunteer to authenticate, photograph and voucher a tiger?

Illumination in the Flatwoods

2012-01-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

My dear friend lent me this book Saturday, Illumination in the Flatwoods by Joe Hutto Illumination in the Flatwoods A season with the wild turkey http://www.amazon.com/Illumination-Flatwoods-Season-Wild-Turkey/product-reviews/1599211971/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 It is the story of a naturalist who spent a summer with a flock of wild turkeys. He lives in the flats of northern Florida, and I have spent time roaming those forests during the years my Grandmother lived in Tallahassee when I would go walking. I have a flock of male turkeys who drink from my birdbath and often shelter in the shade under my little tree. So when I got home and opened this book, I stayed glued to it until I finished it later that evening. I have observed many of the behaviours Hutto describes, but his beautiful descriptions put this all in a new light. If you are even a casual birder from your window, this is a riveting, fascinating book.

Finally, some useful information

2011-12-06T14:39:00.001-08:00

I'm here in Sin City with 720 of my closest friends. I wandered into the forensics section this morning and learned about designer drugs like Spice and Bath Salts. Spice, as it turns out, is largely herbal in composition. What is not on the label is the tetrahydrocannibinol derivative, or active ingredient of marijuana, that is sprayed on the herbal product. Once it is chemically altered so that it is no longer included in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it is no longer illegal in my home state of CA. Bath Salts have derivatives of meth, XTC etc.. So my company makes and sells the analytical instrumentation that makes these analyses possible, but only a few labs have the expertise to even look for these modified compounds. And that is what our guest speaker came to tell us about today.

But you know, for my buck, alcohol is the drug of choice and it's always legal. Amazing, though, what you can find on the Internet.

Something else to be thankful for

2011-11-23T12:12:00.001-08:00

I am blessed with a snug house, newly patched paint and an almost new roof. I have a garden for flowers and one for veggies. I have a good man who treats me well and with whom I enjoy spending time. I have an overabundance of cats and currently, a dining room with an abundance of boxes of wine. Life's good, and I treasure my friends and family. I am rich in the sense that I can buy anything I want as long as I am careful not to want too much. Dear reader, I hope you too have a list for which you can be thankful.

one more thing - who knew?

2011-11-09T11:41:00.000-08:00

We only have two seasons in California. The rainy season has started. Now that I don't get a new car from the job each year, my three-year-old windshield wipers were squeaking with the first rain of the season. Glen told me to go to CostCo and get new ones there. He taught me how to remove one and told me to take it inside the store. I did, managed to determine which one to buy, and walked out with 4 of them in big plastic tubes. The next morning we went out with the 19" wiper blade to determine if it was in fact a correct one for our Fusions. Glen said Look! It's too short! I said No Way!

Turns out the wiper on the driver's side is 24" and the wiper on the passenger side (the one I took inside the store) is 19". What's up with that?!

Back to CostCo.

Tootsie's new fashion

2011-09-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Isn't this just worth a poor baby? She has been pacing the room, scraping the plastic collar on all the furniture, trying to get rid of the nuisance. Just for a couple of days, Sweetie.

dagger bead bracelet

2011-08-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Some years ago I saw a magnificent necklace made with dagger bead crochet. I tried to learn bead crochet, but was unsuccessful with anything smaller than pony beads. Then I saw a patttern in Bead and Button magazine with peyote stitch. This I can do. The photo is not as gorgeous as the bracelet, but it was so much fun to make and wear. I have a meeting in Prague this November. The bead factory, Presiosa Ornel in nothern Bohemia, in that famous valley for Czech bead making is just a bus ride away. Yay! Roadtrip!

just for the birds

2011-08-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

A couple of places in the yard are home to clusters of plants in the Arum family - arrow shaped leaves that die back in early summer, leaving the flower spikes to grow the seeds to maturity. I was sitting quietly on the porch yesterday when I realized there was more blue jay squawking and mocking bird rasping that usual. I watched the territorial displays and tried to determine if there were chicks involved. After some time I realized the birds were gathering red berries, and then realized the disputes seemed to be over the cluster of berries next to the house. I think they were all getting buzzed from the berries!

the SS Jeremiah O'Brien cruise

2011-07-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

The SS Jeremiah O'Brien is one of two last remaining liberty ships, and she is kept afloat by a group of volunteers who take her out occasionally for a little outing. http://www.usmm.org/libertyships.html For my birthday this year we took a day cruise from San Francisco up through Suisun Bay to look at the mothballed fleet tied up there. http://scotthaefner.com/beyond/mothball-fleet-ghost-ships/ Who knew there were so many types of ships? But the lead paint and who knows how many other heavy metals are seriously befouling the bay waters, so these ships, mostly from WWII, are being either moved or scrapped. I frequently drive over this bridge and have been watching the rafts of ships get smaller. It was really interesting to get to sail up close and have the captain tell us what each one was and used to do. Things look pretty different from the level of the bay, and it was a good time for all.

cocktails at the Dali Museum

2011-07-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

I spent a few days at the Florida Pesticide Workshop. The hotel is lovely and on the beach, although hot as you might expect in July. The inside meeting rooms made up for the heat by being extra cold. Monday night we had a field trip to a museum built on a pier in St. Petersburg a few years ago http://www.thedali.org/. I must say that boy was hardwired very differently than I am. However, any meeting reception at a museum always trumps a reception in a ball room. I LOVED the garden they created around the building. I want a bench like this one.

Sweltering in the mid-west summer

2011-07-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Life in California is good. I am not in CA, I am outside St. Louis in a lovely community with expansive GREEN lawns and shade trees, triple digit temperatures and extra high humidity as it rains every few days (not to mention the Mississippi River, just a few miles away, is running at capacity). It just happens to have a heat index above 90 by 7 in the morning. So when I go on my morning stroll, hardly generating the speed to be actually termed a walk here, I come home soaked to the skin before 8. Now let me think, why did I ever think life sounded good in CA?

On the good side, Mom is pretty strong and will have not problem doing for herself when I leave in a few days. The wireless is pretty reliable, and the big lounge area is quiet this time of day, so working is not a problem. I spend the rest of my time out on the porch with the overhead fan, thank goodness, trying to escape the non-stop Turner movie channel in the other room.

Did you ever wonder if there is an alternate universe where all those things you meant to do tomorrow, but didn't get done, actually do get accomplished? What would life be like with caught-up e-mail and a clean kitchen and mowed grass be like? Guess I will get to wonder a little longer. Left all that behind in CA.

a short detour for my week

2011-07-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

My mother had surgery Saturday. She is fine. However, it took me way too far back to when we nearly lost her 3 years ago. I spent all Saturday morning trying to breathe for her from here. It was all very sudden and no way could I get there. So I am all packed up and leaving today. I guess I should call her and tell her I am coming. I have boxes of plums and apricots on the counter, and hungry cats prowling the kitchen. The neighbor promises to distribute the zucchini, so I guess I am good to go. Oh, I need to find a jar and take Mom a plum and a cot. I hear the tomatoes are in in IL where she lives, so that will be something else to look forward to.

July in my front yard

2011-07-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

Some of the early daylilies are about to take a rest for the hot part of the year. The mid-year troopers are getting ready to put on the next act of the show. A couple of years ago, Loew's built a hardware store over on my side of town, and it did not take too long to find out they sold big pots of hybrid daylilies at half off toward the end of the summer. Bedraggled? No flower spikes? No problem, my bed has just the place for you. Here are three of the newer ones:

Summer hits with a hammer this week

2011-06-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

What goofy weather for N Ca. We had a half an inch of rain at the beginning of the week, unheard of for June in our desert climate. Temperature is going to be over 100 F for the weekend. Fortunately I can go home tomorrow and get ready to set the hose on drip and just move it around all weekend.

I took a flat of the first apricots and plums to the Food Pantry in the next town over on my way out of town yesterday. They evidently had to move on short notice, so I had to go find the new place or keep a flat of fruit in my trunk for a few days (EEEK!). They are clearly scrambling to keep the door open, which is too bad because there are always lots of kids underfoot and women clutching their proof of residency. The woman who runs the place and I seem to be the only one who speak English, but there are smiles and polite gestures to chairs all around as I wait to drop off my bags of hotel toiletries (lots of those after a few months), and fruit. The Pantry will be closed until Tuesday for the long hot holiday weekend, so I shall go home, pick fruit tomorrow, carry it around to the neighbors, and make plum and 'cot jam all weekend. By Tuesday, the house will be perfumed with ripening fruit, I will carry the flats back over, and start all again. Maybe some zucchinis can make their way over this week.

I haven't really liked any of the plum sauce recipes I have found. Do you have one for me?

The march of the Killer Zucchini

2011-06-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

They're BACK! They are marching into the fridge drawer and down the street to the neighbors. My garden is HAPPY and we are going to have a LOT of zucchini. I may have to go to the food bank with them.

kitty warmer

2011-06-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

I had a little shoulder repair on Thursday. If I sit VERY still with a cold pak, there is no pain. Fortunately, I have a kitty warmer. He has been enthusiastically guarding this new-found piece of real estate. I normally sit at a desk chair during the day, and this lap is clearly superior to the less-recumbent thighs he usually has to resort to perch upon, and only when I am not too busy to try to type around him at that.

It is raining a surprising amount for June in California. My garden is ecstatic, and growing like Jack's beanstalk. I have picked a good weekend to veg out in the chair.

Time for garden pics

2011-05-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

That's Louie in the catmint - look for the little pink tongue

The first hydrangea

Tootsie is helping me sew today

2011-05-23T10:38:00.001-07:00

Water for Elephants, the book report

2011-05-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

I was out of town and dangerously near the end of the book I had brought, so a quick trip to the mega-mart drug store found me leaving with a new book. Water for Elephants Rosie-the-elephant only knows Polish, but then, the protagonist does too. A really fun read about a depression-era lad who runs off to join the circus. I so love it when the villains get their just rewards, even if the end is a bit predictable.

Return of the old friend

2011-05-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

Remember the lost erring from last year? It surfaced with a PING! from the weed wacker. Slightly the worse for wear, it earned a trip to a jeweler's to be reincarnated back into an erring. I get to pick it up tomorrow - I'll be glad to get it back. Yippee!

on to the next project

2011-05-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

It's good to finish something. Due to 2 days of enforced sitting in a chair, the beading project is finished. I can't post photos as it is supposed to be a Christmas surprise. There is a stray thread that needs gluing, and then it's all done. I found a lovely new book on beading at my library http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Art-Beading-Essential-Techniques/dp/0811871606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304372792&sr=8-1 that has a number of lovely projects. I think I need to buy it.

Well, hello there!

2011-04-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

We scored some tix to the Giants Atlanta Braves game yesterday and with 43,000+ of our closest friends, went out to watch the Giants lose in the bottom of the 10th. Oh well. We went to the adjacent restaurant to have a little dinner before driving home. I was in the very poorly maintained restroom, drying my hands, and I turned to the woman who had just walked in the door and told her there was no paper in the stall. She exclaimed and I looked up to see A, the professor with whom I have an appointment today, 100 miles away. Go figure.

This means WAR

2011-04-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Louie is my go-to gopher hunting cat. He has been keeping the yard pretty clean of them. However, one moved into my daylily bed a couple of weeks ago. The guy at the nursery part of the new hardware store today suggested they carry castor bean pellets. However, it really strikes me as just wrong to poison everything that moves in the dirt under my flower bed. However I found what I hope will be a perfect solution. Gopher, as soon as the sun comes up in the morning and charges the solar battery, you better pack your gopher duds and prepare to be moving on. This gizzie promises to make noises you won't be able to live with. Just watch out for the blue point Siamese on your way out.

Huh. That's no fun at all

2011-04-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

I cheerfully started the bangle pattern in the latest Bead and Button magazine. The peyote base worked up fine with just one little mistake no one but me could ever find. http://www.beadandbutton.com/Magazine/Current%20Issue.aspx But the edging done in net stitches is wavy and not smooth as shown. I could swear the size 11 beads are too large, or 3 of them per stitch is too many. I have written the author, let's see if she responds. I have a lot of work in this to have it look as awful as it does right now. Huh.

A rare, rainy April Day

2011-04-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

We finally reached our year to date normal rainfall here in N CA. The reserviors are full, a real blessing here in a dry land. There should be enough water in the rivers from snow melt that the salmon will be able to have decent conditions to migrate and spawn. There are ticks aplenty - it's even a good year for them apart from the 6 I have killed so far. But the best part is my flowers are so happy.

About that software manual

2011-04-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

I'm working in my home office, trying to digest the user's guide for an analytical instrument. Here's Louie, keeping me company and inspiring me to concentrate. Gotta keep the day job to pay for the kibble.

stabilizing peyote in progress

2011-04-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

I started a new project from a pattern by Cynthia Rutlege in April BEAD & Button. She suggests to put the peyote on a paper foundation. GENIUS! It keeps it from flopping around and makes it ever so much easier to keep the working side aligned.

Beginnings are so exciting. There's the rush from the retail therapy to gather the bits not in the stash. All perfect, no mistakes yet (been there and done that on the back side of the work already). Satisfying brainwork to puzzle through the construction. All good.

No peeking, cuz.

another thing or two in the list of stuff not to buy

2011-03-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

Although it doesn't accumulate in humans, it evidently does in fish, and as an endocrine disrupter. I like to buy those antibacterial sprays for use in the kitchen. Now that I am working on Salmonella typing, I am more aware than ever before about keeping the kitchen counters and sink clean. But triclosan and triclocarban is toxic to fish, which live in the sewage runoff that goes into the waterways. Bleach, folks, diluted into spray bottles, is the way to go. Label reading 101 again, please. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110330214709.htm

Planting a spring garden? Remember the Monarchs

2011-03-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

If you are putting in your garden, as I am doing, try to make a space for plants Monarch butterflies can use as waystations during their migration this year. My yard is already a Certified Wildlife Habitat, so it will only take a little work for me to get it certified as a Monarch Waystation. Go here and learn what you can do as well http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/.

This is the week the painted lady butterflies migrate. I can sit in my yard and watch them flutter down the street and across my yard, headed north. Once your eye starts to watch, you can see dozens of little moving spots, fluttering by. Apparently there was so much rain in Southern California that there was a lot for the caterpillers to eat, and now there are a lot of butterflies.

it is trying hard to be spring

2011-03-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

There was a little sun yesterday. After 3 weeks of rain, we finally have reached the average year to date rainfall, which is a good thing as it will now start raining. We sat on the porch and had a drink yesterday evening, the first time this year, even though it was only 60 degrees. There is a Great Egret hanging around here for the past few weeks. First one I have ever seen here. And a Rufous hummingbird visited the feeder - they migrate through for a few months, so he told me it is trying to be spring, too.

I was looking for a photo this morning and poking through the blog archives. I must say, I had forgotten much of that. I am lucky to have this job - some of the things I have done have been really interesting. Thanks, cuz, for prodding me into starting a blog. You should get back to keeping yours up, too.

La Fred Athena blouse pattern

2011-03-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Maybe last Christmas, La Fred had a free pattern download offer (this is the pattern, not the download). http://www.bullarddesigns.com/lafred/athena.html I printed out some 30 pages and laid them aside. Yesterday afternoon I glued and taped them all together while I watched the evening news. Only when I cut out 3 pieces did I realize there was no sleeve. No file, no email, no trace of the original download. OK, I could draft a sleeve, how hard could that be? I fussed and fiddled, and drew one 3 times, using the infinitesimally small figure on the pattern layout guide to calculate lengths and widths proportional to another piece on the diagram and its pattern piece measurement. It still looked cattywampus, so it was time to sleep on it. I walked past it at noon to get a cup of tea, and it caught my eye. I realized I had just drawn a grainline from the center rather than drawing the grainline perpendicular to a line connecting the ends of the armscye. OK, got that all fixed up once I realized my mistake, redrew it from the armscye down. Found a piece of plaid to make a sleeve muslin after I finish the bodice. Free pattern, fabric gifted from my friend, it doesn't get much better than this.

No, Mr. Obama, this will not 'win the race to educate our kids'

2011-03-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

The National Science Foundation (NSF) had decided to cancel GK-12, a $56M program that brings STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) graduate students into K-12 classrooms to work with teachers and kids. http://www.gk12.org/2011/03/04/gk-12-program-cancellation-discussed-in-science/ Now I have no direct experience with this program, but I have a lot of experience communicating technical issues to non-technical people. I also remember what a truly terrible TA I was my first year in graduate school. This program was a win-win all around. This smells like a bad decision.

Rain for the rest of the week

2011-03-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

But yesterday, we had a few hours of sun. I took advantage of a slow day at work, and went outside for awhile in the afternoon. Now I ask you, does anyone need a better reason to grow catmint (Nepeta faassenii)? In another month it will be covered with little purple flowers, but now it is covered in cat!

'Bye to the rainy season

2011-03-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

We get another week of rain here, and then, no more until next winter. Really, winter and summer are the rainy season and the dry season here in N Ca. But the trees are gorgeous now, and I am ready to start washing the jelly jars.

My TeaCup

2011-03-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

I drink tea all day out of a great big Botanic Gardens "breakfast mug" with a big flat bottom. I have a little warmer with a switch that keeps it from getting cool. And I have to tell you when I spill my tea, like I just did, that I'm really glad I don't favor coffee with cream and sugar. Much easier to clean up!

The meeting at Hamburger University

2011-03-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

Some account managers met the Food Team for a couple of days last week. We were outside Chicago, not where I would pick for March, but there was a customer visit. I was pleasantly surprised at the hotel site, it was on the McDonald campus where they do their corporate training. There were a lot of suits in the halls, apparel I don't often encounter in my line of work. You can see the campus includes several large classroom buildings, this one connected to the Hyatt by a covered walkway. But the best part was the memorabilia and art at the Hyatt. There was Ray Kroc's original malt machine. Wall art included a quilt of hamburger and fries, Mona Lisa with McDonald's bag on the floor next to her, Queen Beth eating fries out of a McDonald's sack, tumbling Ronalds in the shape of McD - you get the idea. Iconic and charming, not at all heavy-handed. I'd stay there again just to walk the halls of the Hyatt and look at the art.

The Christmas jewels

2011-02-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

My Great-Aunt Elizabeth was much beloved by my family. She laughed a lot, put out a big dinner for Thanksgiving, and lived in a beautiful brick home that Great-Uncle Chester built. I have a lot of wonderful childhood memories from that house. In due time, she passed away, and I helped my mother clean up her things at her home. So you can imagine my delight when I received this package under my tree at Christmas, wrapped with a bit of ribbon, from my mother. All of her rhinestone jewelry, and now I can enjoy it every day. Thanks, Blondie.

The flowers are lovely

2011-02-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

We in The Company have for some weeks had extensive and painful discussions about a gentleman from Cameroon. So when G showed up with African violets for Valentine's day, it was a real trip. Thanks, sweetie, it was the perfect touch.

blustery start to a week of rain

2011-02-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

We really need the rain here, so I cannot complain. Last week was warm and sunny and I spent a lot of time looking at the weeds in the yard.

I also enjoyed the various pink trees in bloom, so I am hoping the rain will be gentle and not the kind that knocks all the petals to the ground. Yesterday we got the first blossoms on our plum tree. I'll just look at them out the window and be grateful for a week of rain.

looking forward to the weekend

2011-02-11T08:49:00.000-08:00

I think this unpleasant diversion has blown over, the investigation shows the charges were unfounded (surprise!). I seriously need to get this thread back on track. Saturday is Peninsula Wearable Arts Guild http://penwag.org/ meeting, of which I have been an enthusiastic member for about 15 years, followed by lunch with dear friends. The weeds in the yard are growing better than the plants I tend, so I need to get busy with that. The fruit trees need spraying with copper for leaf curl before bud break, which will be soon given how warm it is now, in the 60's. Yup, happy times are here again.

yup, life goes on, part 3

2011-02-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

The Come to Jesus meeting did not seem to work. Snot Nosed Post-Doc walked out on me when I gave him a direct request (well, order) to do something. The good news is I get to go home tomorrow. I'm really grateful to have management squarely behind me, but when the proverbial substance hits the rotating oscillator, everyone gets dirty. Fortunately I have managed a lot of successful collaborations, as have my managers, and we have a track record of doing it well.

Time for dinner. Yup, life goes on.

KDFC went away today

2011-01-24T13:41:00.000-08:00

Bummer. I work at home sometimes, often doing e-mail and expense reports. The radio is a nice diversion, and I listen to the classical station a lot. So here I was swaying to the Blue Danube Waltz this morning, and the next thing I know, there is The Hotel California by the Eagles at 12:20. Something about switching to public format, and now DRAT! I am going to have to figure out this streaming business. Change is not good here.

Happy Dance, Squared

2011-01-20T07:45:00.000-08:00

My poor BlackBerry has a bent pin, it cannot be repaired for complicated reasons. The death rattle came this week, I have 2 bars of battery life left. Now I am no longer a Field Engineer, but am an Inside Applications Scientist, which belies the fact I am in the 4 days - 3 nights travel mode for this entire month. Nonetheless, I am not actually entitled to a BlackBerry. This month I switched from my old boss J to my new boss P, that blue-sky thinker and loose cannon. It has been a good trip this week, lots of us were here to launch a new collaboration, and we were enjoying a most excellent bottle of wine gifted on us by our Enology Professor Sue. So, P, I say, my phone is dying and I need to order a new one. Why are you telling me, he says. Because you have to approve it, P. Just get it. Fine. (P evidently slept through manager school where they explain the pecking order of whom is entitled to what work tools). So I am sitting here salivating in anticipation of my new touch screen BlackBerry, which should arrive this week.

Another nice thing that happened yesterday, is that we had a very successful project review with my collaborators, where I let the new post-doc to understand that I picked up on a couple of omissions and had total control of the details. My managers were quite pleased with the meeting. We had other meetings for the rest of the day. Professor Sue quite kindly invited 4 of us to dine at her home along with her collaborator Professor Alyson of Food Science and Technology, along with other family members. It was delightful, we enjoyed the conversation, and Alyson and I dreamed up a new project for pomegranate juice authentication. Sometimes it all works out just right.

and life still goes on . . .

2011-01-19T08:01:00.000-08:00

So I am sitting in the small hotel by the college campus, preparing for my first quarterly review with my university collaborators today. We are about 3 months behind where we wish we were, due to delays in equipment deliveries, but it is what it is. I have my power clothes all ready, and the attendees all have their assignments for what to present. We will see if the come-to-Jesus meeting yesterday focuses everyone's mind on the work at hand as defined by the project (not what the blue-skying post doc wishes he could do first).

It's really foggy here, as it tends to be this time of year. I am so glad I live where it stays above freezing.

and life goes on . . .

2011-01-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

All of us have scars on our backs - not always literal ones - where we have been stabbed. I have a new one from yesterday, and it is still bleeding. The data came in, looked as expected after several days of troubleshooting, I was happy, offered the customer a glass of wine to celebrate, and the next morning the proverbial substance hit the rotating oscillator. Personal attacks via the e-mail bomb made it necessary for me to pull a bit of data and leave ASAP. I REALLY didn't see this one coming. Different culture perhaps made the body language unreadable, but I was for sure blindsided. Fortunately my managers trust and respect me, but who needs this? It's really hard to dodge all of that proverbial substance when it is flying around. The customer may always be right, but not this time, folks. I for sure didn't need this one. aargh.

Part of it is finally finished

2011-01-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, I bought myself a J & P Coats spool cabinet at the auction (http://www.icollector.com/Victorian-Casino-Antique-Auction_ae271) I had my eye on these as they occasionally appeared for several years, but got priced out of the bidding. Two years ago, things didn't go for as much, and I managed to pick up a bargain. It sat on a packing box for a couple of years, then one day I found some turned legs for sale. Who knew one could buy legs, aprons and all the stuff to make your own table? So a lot more money later than I thought it would cost, stuff showed up. I thought I could stain and glue and it would turn into a table. Well, the resident engineer took over the project, and the stain and oil finish is a perfect match for the old wood cabinet. The top still needs to be stained and glued etc, but as it happens, this much works well enough. Isn't it lovely?

BTW, apologies about the header to the blog. It is kind of under construction and will get put up there right as soon as I get help to figure out how.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T12:18:00.001-08:00

I think I need to officially declare 2010 as a successful year. I got to travel to Germany, Hungary, Las Vegas, Chicago, Fairbanks, Tallahassee, Seattle, Atlanta, Washington DC, Orlando and somewhere else in Florida, not to mention Davis CA, where I get to go again this week (o boy). I got to travel a little with my Mother, which is a beautiful thing after years of not having that opportunity. I made a beautiful bracelet for my cousin. I perfected the tee shirt pattern and have several to wear to work now. I made some other things, although I can't quite call them to mind at the moment. The roses and tomatoes did OK, I'm still working on the gardening. I have another cat who wandered into my life, and he is a sweetie. On the down side, I really smashed my shoulder, and it is still giving me trouble. Being inactive while my shoulder healed was not kind to my waistline, and that, of course, is part of my resolution list for 2011. The new Wii Fit is still in pieces in the living room, but sometime early this year, that will be a happening thing. But you know, I am blessed with dear friends, a good man with a good job, a job that makes me happy, a new, snug roof over my head, and I am contented. Life's good.

best wishes for a lovely holiday

2010-12-25T14:41:00.000-08:00

Blog friends, I hope your Big Day is as lovely as mine. We had lots of present, music, and of course, food. Before I go put the roast in the oven, my family wants to wish your family the season's best.

Tootsie, Louis XIV, Fritz and Kitty-Guy hope you enjoy your dinner too.

Tis still the season

2010-12-25T14:28:00.000-08:00

Last Christmas was the season to replace the electronics in the living room. It has been a Big Project, entailing much shopping, new cabinet to hold them, and on (and on and on). The last remaining project (aside from the time payments, no interest please) is to hang the speakers on the wall. This started last spring by placing the speakers on 4 x 4 boards and getting electronic testing equipment to ascertain the most correct placement. Shortly after, I had dinner for my friends, and was peppered with concern that there might be structural damage in my living room. There is still much to ponder, so no, the speakers haven't made it to the wall yet. Well, friends, we again had dinner this week to celebrate my Mom's arrival. There was much admiration of the beautiful Douglass fir and the festive decorations. But wait, one friend said, we aren't finished here. There is one more touch needed.

Do you really think he hasn't noticed???

Tis the season

2010-12-20T11:13:00.001-08:00

We are almost ready. Mom arrives tomorrow. Meanwhile, there are lots of new boxes and places to explore.

Louie is snoozing in my lap

2010-12-08T09:46:00.001-08:00

I'm home again, for a few days at least. Louie is doing very well, checked in at the vet's yesterday; he gained back a half pound in the last week. He gets to eat KITTY FOOD for a little while to fatten him back up. What a treat that is! Best we can figure it may have been a spider bite followed by an infection, but he is mostly OK now.

Louie is home again

2010-12-02T05:32:00.000-08:00

Three years ago my neighbor called: my vet has a lovely bluepoint male looking for a home. His human had died; the daughter's cat was spraying the walls in protest. Daughter took the cat to the vet to have him euthanized as she could not keep him. Buster arrived with a white crocheted blankie and a hairbrush. After some consideration (Buster is a dog's name) and with no disrespect to his late human, we christened the cat Louis XIV in light of the fact he was much luckier than his namesake.

Louie was punky over the weekend, but perked up some on Sunday. By Monday morning he was one sick kitty and seriously dehydrated, so I checked him into the vet's and started calling every 4 hours for updates. He's home again, I hear (I am not). No clue what was wrong, but he is doing much better. It's only money, after all, and I will feel much better when I can get him to purr for me again.

A stash is a good thing to own

2010-11-24T08:48:00.000-08:00

Do you have piles of stuff for projects waiting for you to attend to them? On my J & P Coats oak spool chest are folded pieces of fabric and 2 hanks of yarn just waiting for the right pattern to get pinned to them. I was really bored yesterday, so I dug around and found the yellow silk I had dyed black, so that it turned burgundy (go figure, but that is what happens when you dye things, it can be a real surprise). I have a great Loes Hinse blouse pattern that made up spectacularly, so today I get to cut it out and swing by Fabrics R Us and pick up buttons. Life's good when one gets to start a new project, even a little one.

Passages

2010-11-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

My friend of 10 years is leaving the company today. Due to an injury, she can't walk the campuses where she does her daily sales rounds. I can't believe there wasn't a desk job for her somewhere for a few months. At breakfast this morning, a number of us expressed the sentiment that we feel like we are married to the company, but the company doesn't feel a similar attachment to us. It's all, what have you done for me lately? Ah, well, life here goes on, but I am sad.

I lost an old friend yesterday

2010-11-18T11:18:00.001-08:00

I only had on one gold hoop erring last night when I undressed. Sigh, I am so sorry to have lost it. They are my faves, and probably 25 years ago I bought them, one of the few jewelry pieces I have ever bought for myself. I must have pulled it out of my ear with my radio headset, when I pulled the headset off my head in the garden with my knee. I thought I would find it in the garden, but it wasn't laying around where I could see it. Awwww.

I'm eating chocolate for breakfast

2010-11-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

and feeling very smug about it. We all knew chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is good for you, right? Now we have some documentation (go here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101110141247.htm ) Turns out a new study, which I unfortunately can't access as I don't subscribe to that journal, says that dark chocolate can lower your blood pressure. Yup.

There is a small peptide hormone called angiotensin that causes arteries to constrict. That raises your blood pressure, and it's the normal way blood pressure is regulated. Too much angiotensin, too high pressure. Blood pressure medications mostly work by inhibiting an enzyme that converts the precursor to angiotensin to an active form. So does chocolate, and it can lower blood pressure. Probably great for your cardiac health in general.

So don't be shy, pass the chocolate.

I kinda miss Ma Bell

2010-11-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

I remember when I turned 13 and I came home from school one day and the telephone rang. The reason I remember it is that when I left for school there was no telephone, so I had to hunt around to find the ringing. My folks said that now that I was a teenager, we should have a phone. I presume while I was at school the nice man came to the house, hooked everything up, and left when it worked, because that was how things were done when I was a girl.

Fast forward a half a century. My company sent a new IP phone to the house in a box. It doesn't plug into the phone jack on the wall any more, it uses a wireless Internet connection with a little antennae on a box. Nor is there a nice man to come to install it. There were instructions sent to my computer from the IT people on how to get the Internet and the phone to communicate. Some place during the instruction list, I got derailed and several phone calls later (from the old phone still plugged in the wall), I got it straightened out. There were two part numbers for a wireless or a corded headset, so I ordered one. It came. It had a USB connector, not a phone jack. My new phone had a phone jack. Call Plantronics, get the right part number. Out with the old box, in with the new. Get the next headset assembled and plugged in. No dial tone on the hand set. No dial tone on the head set. Speaker phone worked. More calls on the speaker phone. Yep, the directions did say you needed to adjust the little dial on the side, but I missed them. Hand set cord was loose, got that fixed too.

Several hours, at least, of troubleshooting later, every thing works. It's all magic any more. There is a directory on there, but I can't figure out what it wants for a password nor how to set one. That's OK. Shortly everyone I want to talk to will have called me or I will have called them, and I can access those numbers.

Years ago my MIL had Alzheimer's and eventually she forgot how to use the telephone. Well, I am not there yet, I can still use the @#$! phone, even if I couldn't hook it up. Sigh. Magic.

It was the BIGGEST party I have ever seen

2010-11-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

Yep, I played hooky yesterday. Well, sure, just how often do the Giants win the World Series? G & I went to the Giants parade with (literally) about a million of my closest friends. I had no idea there were so many Giants tee-shirts and jerseys in the bay area, and they all showed up to see the parade and rally in front of City Hall. Their photos are better than mine, so see the link http://www.mercurynews.com/giants/ci_16516990?source=most_viewed It was the biggest crowd estimated to ever convene in downtown, and I believe it, because there was literally no more room left for more people to stand. It was a happy, smiling, friendly crowd, and everyone had a good time cheering and yelling. And there were a lot of champagne bottles on the street as we all cleared out. Happy, happy.

Why the Giants won the Pennent

2010-11-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

We settled down to watch the pre-game hoopla on the TV last night, and G reminded me I had not washed his Giants tee shirt. I had my jersey on, of course, but since I didn't get anything on it the night before, I could still wear it again. Black tee shirts are apparently not so resilient, so I jumped up and dumped a mixed load of clothes in the washer. At the end of the second inning I checked the things in the dryer, and it was just barely damp. I told G he could put it on if he wanted to, but he said if it wasn't dry it wouldn't work, and I could look it up, it was true. So sure enough, as G walked into the living room in the top of the 3rd inning with the Giants at bat, pulling the shirt down over his belly, there went a line drive into left field. It was the start of a beautiful thing.

It's easy to make friends when you give them $$$

2010-10-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a VERY BIG DEAL. About 40 people turned out to celebrate the University of California, Davis-Agilent collaborations. We had Deans and Presidents and 3 layers of managers there (and my boss wasn't even there) and about a dozen Agilent poeple who touch the project in some way. G decided to tag along as a tire-kicker, being an alumnus and all. The new Robert Mondavi Center for food and wine and brewing sciences is really beautiful. It has a platinum star energy rating, with beautiful sky-lights and windows and natural lighting. The dairy and food processing areas are still getting set up. We had speeches and introductions and tours and goodie bags and a buffet lunch. Paul had a new suit (I had never seen him in a tie, so it was a good thing to have a photographer to document same) and was on good behaviour, aside from promising the store to some of the faculty. In the yet-unused dairy processing room were six large Agilent cartons of equipment (the size of a king sized bed and about 3-4 x that high) waiting to be unpacked and installed. This wasn't even for my project, but a separate grant for an instrument lab to be run by two of the nicest women investigators.

For lunch, we moved to the California Animal Health and Food Safety facility, which is where my project is running. I'll be working for the next 2 years on a new method to rapidly identify bacterial contamination in food. "Rapid" in food safety parlance means faster than days or weeks to pin a name on the bad stuff causing a food poisoning epidemic. We will be using equipment that microbiologists have never touched to replace the petri dishes that are now used to culture up the bugs. Molecular methods are the "in" way to go.

I like to visit

2010-09-23T17:39:00.001-07:00

but I am glad I don't work here. My company bought their company a few years ago. There is a lot of pressure for this site to become profitable. The people are nice, friendly, helping me to understand the work. Several of them will take me to dinner shortly (friendly, but they also get a free dinner out of it). The management, not so much. We are all under orders to communicate ONLY with G, and he will approve any communications. He doesn't want us to distract them from his agenda. I'm not thinking this will be helpful in actually managing my collaboration where I want to know something.

On the other hand, it is a stunningly beautiful drive from the hotel to the site, gorgeous as only a seaside road in Southern California can be. Too bad I am sitting in a cube while I tell you about it.

tomorrow will be a good day

2010-09-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I have my last physical therapy appointment for my poor broken, stitched-together shoulder. Tomorrow, I go back to the doctor for an x-ray and a checkup. I hope I will then be able to lift something larger than a cup of coffee. I have weeds to pull and holes to dig, and sitting in the chair ain't gittin' 'er done. So I was discussing with G the list of things I need to ask the doctor if/when I can do. The doctor is an Asian, 35-ish Type A personality, very sharp as you would expect for a sports med kind of guy. G said to ask him when I can use the trapeze in the bedroom and see what he says to THAT.

a little story

2010-09-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

My life has been hijacked when my computer hard drive died. I have to reload all my software, so while that is going on, I can tell you a funny story. The people down the street moved last weekend. He had been out of work for a year, so the street was happy for him, the two kids, the dog and the mom that he found a new contract as principal of an elementary school.

After they moved out, the for sale sign went up and there was an open house Sunday. As neighbors will do, we all went in to check out the place. Well, it was FILTHY. Nasty is not too strong an adverb. Several of us gathered in Sue's driveway to cluck over the state of the interior. Jan said that when the mom was at her house, she said she didn't cook and she didn't clean. Without batting an eye, her husband said to the deeply religious mom, "I hope you are a good screw."

I guess in this case cleanliness takes a very distant back seat to godliness.

a little military history

2010-08-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

The last time I worked at our factory in Waldbron Germany we spent a week in Austria on vacation. On a day trip to Graz we visited the regional armory http://www.zeughaus.at/, home to 300,000 items of Baroque weaponry. The valley leading to central Austria was often assaulted by the Turks and Hungarians, so a kind of renta-armor collection was put together and sent on the road when the invaders threatened. I began to understand the enormous influence of the geography on the historical events.

This year we ventured a bit further east, on the way stopping at Berchtesgaden, Germany. We had toured the Eagle's Nest on a previous trip, but came back to look through the Holocaust Museum that has been constructed at the foot of the mountain. There is much documentation about how Hitler's regime manipulated society to make his ethnic cleansing program acceptable.

While we were in Hungary, we ended up in Budapest for a day. Now Hungary is a place with a lot of consonants in the language and a lot of 0's in the currency. Compared to Austria, it is noticeably much less prosperous. Buda is up on a big hill overlooking the Pest across the Danube - very defensible piece of land (until the last time). Shown is the funicular up the hill, and Pest across the river. There are 3 military museums in the area, a Holocaust museum, one devoted to the terrors of the Nazi and Communist regimes, and we went to the Military History museum. Hungarians are very proud of their militaristic culture - the collection of uniforms was fantastic, their war recruitment posters look like ours without Uncle Sam - but it sure is hard on a people who were on the losing end of the last century worth of wars.

Hungary is volcanically active, and there were a number of hills with ruins on the top. It looks to me like they have been needing those defenses since the first settlers could roll the rocks up the hills.

Now I am a lucky woman who has grown up in a country that has had few wars, at least not in the parts of the US where I have mostly lived. But I've been through the battlefields and cemeteries rolling across the hills of the east, and the horror has not diminished with the decades of stillness since the battles ceased. Austrians tend their cemeteries meticulously and plant colorful flowers to honor their dead. Every little churchyard we visited had multiple graves from the same family from both wars last century.

I don't know how to respond when men march in and burn your livestock and food. A country has to do what it has to do, but I don't want any part of it. Not quite what I expected to bring home from vacation.

Night of the Living Dead

2010-07-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

That will be me, every night, after tomorrow. After chatting up the doc, I came home and did some research on allografts. I knew they did that, but had never needed to know up front and personal much more about it. I've got a few more questions I can't quite find the answer to, but OK, I guess so.

Enough of sitting here in front of the screen, there's peaches that need to be turned into jam. Bwaa-haa-haaa!

home again

2010-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely weekend (not). I spent most of it on a plane, flying to and from Florida (not easy from here), spending a night in a lovely resort on St. Pete's Beach. For at least a half an hour I got to walk in the water. Kind of an expensive way to get a hotel room, yes? Turns out almost 2 weeks ago I fell on my shoulder. Saturday, finally, the swelling went down I could see that my shoulders were now crooked. Sunday I managed to get the x-rays which show not only is my clavicle broken, it is completely moved apart and it just ain't gonna heal the way it is. So I get to navigate the medical system here and see what is to be done. I'm thinking I am not going to like the news. Sigh. I guess I better go wash the sea breeze out of my hair.

32 jars of jam on the wall, 32 jars of jam

2010-07-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

The plums and 'cots have been fab this year, thanks to all the rain. In addition to 2 batches of apricot jam, 1 batch of plum jam, a batch of plum sauce with a new, improved recipe (thanks, Glen), feeding the neighbors, the co-workers, the turkeys and deer, I took almost 200 pounds of them to the local food pantry. Yum, all around!

the more things change . . .

2010-06-28T16:50:00.001-07:00

So I am in a huge sales meeting this week, bigger and better than ever since we bought another company. I am sitting in a room with 675 of my closest work friends gathered at the LAX Westin, and take a moment to look around. The other company has a very similar demographic, very Caucasian, graying, and about a third female. My CEO brings his staff on stage, and they sit in a long line with microphones to answer questions. There they are, 10 middle-aged graying white guys and 2 women. Uh-huh. No Comment.

Is it a requirement in Anchorage for a business permit?

2010-05-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

It is stunningly beautiful here, just like all the photos. Since it is May, it is only cool, not frigid (although the wind can bite). After I took my first walk around town and got back, I realized that every store is named after an animal, or has an animal, or both. In fact, the best restaurant I ate at was named Orso, although it did not have a bear out front. So, here are the best of the bears.

necessities in Fairbanks AK

2010-05-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

I have been at a fish congress in Anchorage AK this week. The bennies of company-sponsored travel are many. I have made a lot of friends and had interesting conversations all week long. Now Fairbanks, the capitol, is a small town. There is not a lot of snow melt, there is not a lot of municipal water. Evidently there is not water mains to much of the town, so one has to have it trucked in at $0.09 a gallon, store it in tanks with heat wrappers, and bring it into the house with a pump. This makes indoor plumbing a luxury, so many people have outhouses. -40F. Think about it for a few minutes. The 6" foam seat gets hung on the wall so it doesn't freeze to the platform. Nothing decomposes, so you get it pumped out every other year. Everything freezes where it lands, so there is a frozen cone of waste to deal with on a daily basis once there is a small accumulation. I hear they keep big sticks in the buildings. Now I have used outhouses at several relatives' places when I was a kid, and I didn't much care for it then. In Missouri. Where it doesn't get below -15F, and I was probably not even there, then. Count your blessings, anyone?

It was SO 20th Century

2010-04-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

I was in a lab today that tests fish for import. They test a LOT of fish, lots of it wild caught salmon from Alaska, but also US caught fish that is exported for processing and then imported again. The brick building on a hill in Seattle is 40 years old, they said (used to be a dry cleaners) and I'll bet not too long thereafter this lab was founded. I mean, I would have been right at home here in my summer jobs during college. Not too much equipment was much newer than that - well, this gas chromatograph was one of the first Hewlett-Packard (now Agilent) ever made. Will you look at this plug?

Well, I made a miscalculation when I signed up this lab - or at least when I talked to them about what lab equipment they did or did not have. For a number of reasons, no lab work this trip. We hauled out the supply catalogs and looked at pictures, went over the procedures and what are used to do them (the pictures again) and made sure to spell out the basic definitions, which may or may not have been vaguely familiar to them. They made out the shopping list; I get to go scrounge through the labs at the factory and see what kind of equipment I can scrounge for them, and get the rest of the equipment that we make sent to them. This will be a tall order, bringing labs like this one from brute-force analytical methods that were developed a half-century ago to 21st century molecular techniques. On the other hand, the ladies took me to a most excellent (and inexpensive) Japanese restaurant for lunch. Glad I like the food here, looks like I will be back!

2010-04-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Back when I was a chemistry professor, I put together a very popular lecture that explained the basics of cloning and amplifying a gene. It was new and hot then, scientists had just figured out how to get humanized insulin - before that they took pig pancreas from slaughterhouse and made it that way. I always got to end that lecture by telling the kids, now you have made your protein, get your $$ and take it to the bank.

Well, now everybody, even high school kids, can start with a primer (a piece of DNA that binds to your gene and says Start Here) and and make zillions of copies of any gene of interest from just about any kind of critter. So these folks at the University of Guelph have taken a bottle of Mescal, the tequila with the worm in the bottle, and amplified up the DNA of the worm from the liquor (not from the worm). If you would see that it takes us 2 hours to get a little speck of fish ready to do the amplification, this would impress you too. This would make a great change in our protocol - instead of a fancy kit and a lot of washes and fussing, just pour a shot of vodka (and maybe a shot into a glass for you - oops! no beverages in the lab please), put in your fin clip, and get the DNA from the alcohol. Woo-Hoo!

Millions of women can't be wrong

2010-03-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

Chocolate is good for you. Really. Those who ate half a bar a week had lower blood pressure, and 39% lower risk of strokes and heart attacks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8593887.stm
Dark chocolate is probably more effective. Goodie, I was hoping there would be a better way than just exercising more to get my blood pressure down. Hee!

Sustainable Seafood

2010-03-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

Trader Joe's announced last week that by the end of 2012 all of its seafood will originate from only sustainable sources. It joins such stores as Safeway, Whole Foods, Target, Aldi's and Wal-Mart (they are not all bad). Among other things, that means Trader Joe's has or will stop selling Chilean Seabass, Atlantic Cod, imported Mahi Mahi, Orange Roughy, farmed Tilapia, farmed Salmon, and Tuna EXCEPT Albacore and Skipjack. Add the free app from Seattle Aquarium to your iPhone so YOU know how to buy fish that are certified as sustainable to the Marine Stewardship Council.

Alaska, here I come!

2010-03-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

I get to take a trip to Anchorage in May to deliver a fish paper. Woo-Hoo! Never been up there, about time. I will go a day early and take a day cruise around Kenai Fjord Bay to see the birds and other wildlife. So when I saw an article in Science about a huge gold and copper deposit a bit north of Bristol Bay, I looked through it with great interest. It is the usual environment vs financial interest story, with a few twists. A number of major jewelers from Tiffany to Walmart have sworn never to buy gold from Pebble Mine, should it materialize. 40 million salmon who live in the various habitats there is big $$ to the state's fishing industry, but then, so is an estimated 33 billion kg copper, 2.9 billion kg of gold and 2.2 billion kg of molybdenum big $$ to the state's mining industry. The potential conflict involves using water from the various rivers to scrub the low grade ore. Some evidence suggests that aqueous copper, at concentrations below the legal "pollutant" level, may interfere with the way salmon navigate. Not being able to swim up river means the salmon won't spawn and make more salmon. So this will be a real Hobson's choice for Alaskans, who love their fishing and mining industries equally.

The Getty Center

2010-03-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back in the office chair after a much needed break for a little vacation. On the way home we swung by LA (and the traffic is just as bad as I hear it is) and drove (and drove and drove) across town so we could go to the new Getty Center the next day. I had been to the Getty Villa near Malibu some years ago, and had always wanted to visit the new museum. Unfortunately for you, I could not really find any good images of the spectacularly beautiful travertine buildings, so go here and take my word for it http://www.getty.edu/museum/about.html. We took the architecture tour and the garden tour. The 5-6 buildings and plazas were built as a collection on a wonderful mountain top site, and the site is well reflected in the building design. The gardens were designed as a sculpture to accent the architecture. I can't really give it justice. The museum is worth putting on your bucket list and all that traffic to visit. We have to go back. Really.

cool blog to visit

2010-03-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

Science has started a new series looking at blogs. The winner of the Science Prize for Online Resources in Education is http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/. On the right most panel is a Most Popular heading. Go to the Cell Size & scale and open it. You have to drag the tab on the bar, then you can scroll down to smaller and smaller stuff. Cool!

One of the scientific tools I use a lot in my job is electrophoresis. Under Virtual Labs on the left is a gel electrophoresis box. Run the demo. It's fun. I actually use this technique in an automated instrument with a disposable chip using microfluidics, but the demo is fun. I could waste a lot of time playing with this site.

Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge

2010-03-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

I was in Pascagoula MS a few weeks back, which entailed a nice drive across the coast from New Orleans. After leaving my appointment, I was lured off the highway by a sign. Who knew there needed to be a refuge for them? Sandhill cranes live on wet savannas that are not good for much else - or wasn't until timber companies began buying up land in the '50's to plant pines. By 1973 with the passage of the Endangered Species act, there were less than 40 cranes, and this was the first refuge established under that law. So did I get to see a crane? Not a live one, just the stuffed ones in the exhibit. Cranes lay eggs days apart, and the first hatched chick usually kills any siblings. Now, the biologists monitor the nests and just leave one egg to hatch. The others are taken to form a captive breeding flock. For the past 30 years, offspring have been released so that there are now about 100 birds in the wild and 25 breeding pairs. Amazing. So the next time you happen to pass through Gautier MS, stop at the visitors center, check out the exhibit, and leave the nice folks there a few bucks. http://www.fws.gov/mississippisandhillcrane/index.html

welcome (back) to the deep South

2010-02-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got to drive from Birmingham to Auburn. Not sure I have been in this part of the state before, which is atnthe western edge of the ridge-and-valley belt that extends from the Appalachians. Yep, I can tell I am back in the south because: Spanish moss is festooned from every vertical branch; the speed limit signs are only suggestions; the drinks tables have tall carboys labeled Sweet and Unsweet; the houses are made of brick; you still see teased and bouffant hairdos; men wear baseball caps to eat in nice restaurants; the valet, greeter and waiter all called me ma'am multiple times; and everyone (EVERY SINGLE ONE, I looked around carefully to be sure) in the restaurant was of Caucasian descent.

Finished!

2010-02-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Every project has a beginning, full of excitement and happy thoughts. The middle may last awhile, depending on how much yard work there is to do. But the Olympics have provided the excuse to finsh my beaded cuff. There seems to be more yard work than usual this spring, but as long as I get to the weeds before they set seed, I guess that is all that matters. Actually that is a maybe at the moment, but it is no fun to sit on cold damp earth when the sun is not shining. Much more fun to sit at the ott lamp in the rocker in front of the TV. It is not a great photo, but here is the finished project.

the girls showed up

2010-02-12T09:45:00.001-08:00

We have a flock of male turkeys that live in the hills above the house. I shamelessly support them with cracked corn from the feed store, even though the wildlife biologists tell us that encourages the coyotes to come down from the hills. Since I haven't seen the coyotes and didn't even hear them this winter, I have discounted that and continue to feed all the birds that come to my property. The females seem to live on the other side of the hill, to the north of here. A few weeks ago a few females showed up and joined the flock. They are smaller and not as colorful. How fun it would be if there were chicks around this spring!

Sieving 101

2010-02-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

I pretty much keep up with Science, which arrives weekly. I'll confess I don't read many of the research articles, but since the first 75 pages are news and timely summaries, I can at least keep up on a wide range of biology, chemistry and medical news. When I get behind, the issues lay in a stack on my desk until I have a plane trip, and Science makes great airplane reading. So the 2 October issue went with me last week, and in honor of the year of Darwin, this issue had 11 articles and some editorials describing the paleobiology of Ardipithecus ramidus and other early hominids. Discovered in 1994, the articles described what it is like to hunt for fossils, every bucket of dirt shaken through sieves and each piece inspected by hand so as not to miss a fragment, how to compare bones from different species. I can't give you a link as the articles on-line are by subscription, but I can pull down pdf's or lend you my copy if you are interested. I plan to re-read this issue and maybe read an intro anthropology book, I learned so much. The issue also contains 2 pages of thumb-nail photos of the 50-odd authors of these articles, a first, I believe.

Busman's half-holiday

2010-02-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

The meeting with the FDA crew went very well today, and I got complements on my presentation from the marketing and product managers who oversaw the work on which it was based. We had a lovely lunch with the fish toxicologist (who is helping to build a fish library complete with fish identified by a taxonomist and the DNA sequences with the Smithsonian) and ocean scientist with whom we will be working. J asked me how I planned to spend the afternoon, and I said in my room working. Why don't I take the Metro to the Mall and go to the oceanographic exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History? Because I have never been on the Metro. Easy, he said, you leave your car in the FDA lot, get on the green line, transfer to the blue line and get off at the Smithsonian station. Well, it did sound like more fun than staring at beige wallpaper and a computer screen, so off I went.

No problem, even for me who once took a trolley north trying to get to the Mexican border from San Diego. So I gaped at the whale skeleton, the very cool illuminated big (BIG!) globe with the various currents and oceanographic features playing out on the surface (how did they DO that) and eventually wandered over to the irresistible fossils. I decided to look for a fish book in the museum store, and the nice man with the cane struck up a conversation with me. He works with the ithicologists, so we discussed the research with the FDA and he recommended a book for my further education (Barnes and Noble, cheap, he says).

So what I have learned (twice!) this week is when you have lunch with fish scientists, someone is bound to order fish, look over the menu item on the plate, and speculate on whether it is really the species the menu says. I'm not there yet, guess I had better order the book.

Who Dat!

2010-02-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

I left New Orleans this morning. I stayed out by the airport and drove over to Pascagoula MS and back (the speed limit is 70, meaning the speed limit is 70 in the slow lane, the other ones are even faster). It was a sunny and mild, pleasant day. Although southern Louisiana is always in a good mood this time of year, festooned with purple and yellow Mardi Gras decorations, this year, everyone is estastic. The Saints, of course. Fleur-de-lis tumbled over themselves on signs, GO SAINTS was plastered on anything that would accept a sticker, and more cars than not were flying 2 SAINTS flags attached to the roof. All the bars were running playoff re-runs from 2 weeks ago. WHO DAT could be heard literally in every dining room, bar, corridor, and WHO DAT was kind of a rumble at the airport. The local news was almost exclusively about the Saints, photo ops abounded in Miami, and these big hulking brutes in business suits proclaimed it was just another business trip. Right.

I wish them well. When I lived in Louisiana we called them the Ain'ts, so it has been a long time coming.

A feast and a beer for $15

2010-02-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

I am in Kenner LA, a working class neighborhood near the New Orleans Airport. I spied a Fish place while I was trying to get to my hotel, so I went there for dinner. Perfect! A long bar and grill built cheaply with paneling and linoleum, and the years have been hard on it. I knew I was in for a treat when I saw the long thin baskets of packets of crackers neatly lined up, and the alligator wooden paper towel holders on the tables. Since it was pretty full, I sat at the bar, just down from where two dudes were shucking oysters. The whole time I ate my dinner, they shucked oysters. The trays of oysters kept riding past my back to the other diners. I had blackened catfish with tender little shrimps in a heavy tomato sauce with probably a whole bell pepper chopped up in it, over a mound of rice. Alligator was on the menu, and I could smell when they fried it. I think I will go back tomorrow night and try the gumbo - I saw a lot of that as well. Yum!

DNA Barcoding

2010-01-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

I tend to think that what I do is pretty hot science. Well, Science Friday on NPR thinks so too! Go here to see that even a high school kid can do this! http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10265

earthquake drill

2010-01-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

original post deleted due to spam comment. ugh!
Well, I am awake now. A 4.1 earthquake is not much as these things go, but when it is a few miles due east of the house, it does get your attention http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/nc71336726.php So I jumped out of my chair to get out from under my A/V receiver which sits smack over my computer. About the time I got to the hall, it quit shaking. I looked out the back window to see Fritz the cat twisted in a quarter turn, glaring into the house at me. It was, of course, my fault, as are all the loud human disturbances to his quiet universe. Nothing seems to have fallen, although I did hear stuff moving during the shaking. After inventorying all of the various cracks, we see the concrete next to the side of the house has moved another 1/2"away from the foundation, there are several new cracks, and all the existing ones are now bigger. But the important stuff, the retaining walls, all look to be the same as before. Yay!

2010-01-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday Glen decided my Christmas present should instead be a wine-tasting course at Culinary Institute of America. The GrayStone building was built in 1889 as a cooperative winery for Behringer and some of the other locals in Napa. CIA has gutted the interior, put up earthquake reinforcements and is installing state of the art teaching kitchens. One of the stone outbuildings has been retrofitted to have a tasting lab, much like the one I saw in the UC Davis new food building. Each station has a chair, a flat workspace, a recessed light panel, a bitty sink, and a shelf above the table that is tiled with about 18 3" tiles that serve as a grid for, in this case, wine glasses. Very clever. Lots of flat screen monitors and white boards that slide around.

I kind of know the vocabulary of tasting wine, but have never been very organized about it except to read tasting notes at whatever winery I was visiting. Turns out there IS an organized way to do this and it is called the wine aroma wheel. This very useful concept will probably help me a lot in the future. http://www.winearomawheel.com/

It was supposed to be a 2 hour course, but in this case, ran 3 hours, which of course no one complained about. We started with a single wine, and looked, smelled, described, and then tasted and described. I realized if my wine were in a black cup, I could not tell by smell alone what color, much less, what grape I had. Smelling is hard! Then after the break we had 4 pairs of wines to compare. We thought about old world (Europe) vs new world (anywhere else) origin, a single grape fermented in very different styles, two different grapes fermented in the same style, dry or not dry, oaked or not oaked, and terroir. The pairs were carefully selected to point out one or two such characteristics. We both learned a lot, but I can tell you by the end of the day, when we stopped at Franciscan Brothers, where we have a membership, I couldn't tell anything apart any more. So, along with not growing up to be President, I guess I won't grow up to be a sommelier either.

Jury Duty - a long tale made shorter

2010-01-06T15:18:00.000-08:00

I obediently showed up for jury duty when my group was called, and 90 of us were told to report to the trial of a young gentleman of mixed heritage who was being tried for murder after the dude shot up a house in gang-related activity. I decided 6-8 weeks off the job would do my short-term job performance no favor and decided to see if I could get out of it. Yes, I know, I am a civic shirker, and so be it.

So when my turn came I whined to the judge and was told, no, I had to report for seating. I asked if I could ask a question. Did I have to remain in 1-hour proximity between now and whenever they might get around to starting juror questioning? Can't get on an airplane or even make any customer visits? Judge called counsel up to his bench and after a short discussion, he said counsel decided I could leave. My best guess is after they heard what I did, neither of them would seat me in any case. Glad I found that out without having to wait a couple of weeks. OK, back to work.

a replacement for those bad-boy trans fatty acids

2010-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Hydrogenated vegetable oil. Crisco. It was supposed to be so much better for you than lard, remember? Stable shelf life, takes a long time to turn rancid (oxidized), tasty in baked and fried foods. Then the cardiologists told us that trans fatty acids raise the bad cholesterol and lower the good cholesterol, thus increasing risk for coronary heart disease. Four years ago the FDA mandated labeling trans fatty acid content on food packaging, and the Dietary Advisory recommendations are less than 1% of total fat intake. This caused a mad scramble in the food industry to reformulate recipes, and I am still carefully reading labels to avoid foods on the market that still contain trans fatty acids.

So, no more hydrogenation of corn oil. Leaving those double bonds in place on the oil gives a reactive bond to be attacked by oxygen, causing rancidity. How now to extend shelf life of foods that contain vegetable oils?

Turns out some bright assistant professor has found that a nanoparticle starchlike substance that comes from sweet corn can be used to emulsify oils and act as a barrier to oxidation. It's early research, but a nice natural product like sweet corn to extend shelf life will be a blockbuster patent. http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/News-nanoparticles-protects-food-oils-spoiling-120909.aspx for more chemistry speak.

Time to be cheerful

2009-12-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

Terry and me chatting up S. Claus

Life's just a bowl of cherries

2009-12-14T09:55:00.001-08:00

I hopped a plane to San Diego last week, and from the security area there is a long hall with people-movers down to the vast departure area that belongs to United. Along this hall United usually has exhibits such as dishes, hand-painted tiles, or typewriters. I'm always early enough to be able to walk through and look at the displays, and it is always a treat. Last week it was slot machines. Unfortunately they are in the plastic display cases United uses, so I could not run my hand along the steel cases, but I had seen all but two pass through the Victorian Casino Antiques Auctions we attend. Go here to check out a few of the machines shown at the exhibit: http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/about/news/pressres/exh-slots.html

I wish I had floor space for one of the triples. I have a Little Duke, unfortunately, the side vendor didn't make it to my dining room.

Tools of the trade

2009-12-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

I travel. On my last business trip, my suitcase handle stuck and I had to ask my boss to carry my suitcase. This is not a cool thing to do, so on Black Friday I chose the closest store that would have the least crowds with the biggest sale, and went to retrieve my Good Deal on a new Delsey overnighter. While standing in line, which was very long but moved along nicely, I rummaged through the shoes and socks on sale. Now when you have a home office, it is a standing joke to tell someone you are working in your jammies and bunny slippers, especially when it is early in the morning. One of my friends (you know who you are) told me last year how 'loved' by houseshoes looked. So there they were, bunny slippers, calling my name. They are soft and warm and will keep my ankles warm in my cold office this winter. They look like something I should have had when I was 13, but since they are in my grown-up size, they must have been meant for me. Suitcase and bunny slippers, for the new job.

The tale of 2 trees

2009-11-24T12:08:00.000-08:00

We have 2 sweet-gum trees in the yard, which I believe to be called Liquid Amber. One is on the hill, always leafs out later and turns red sooner than the one that is on the flat part of the yard. They are just two reasons I have to be thankful I live here.

something to think about

2009-11-23T16:35:00.000-08:00

I am an armchair environmentalist. My idea of conserving fuel is to run errands on the way home, and I conserve gray water by hauling it out in bucketfuls and dumping it on my plants. At the grocery store, I pay more attention to what's in it than where it came from. Now that I'm a Professional Foodie of a sort, I have started paying attention to where things do come from. No, I didn't ask the waiter where the fish came from last week, but it crossed my mind to do so.

And so I have finally read Barbara Kingsolver's book. It's about her year-long experiment about buying locally. I like her fiction; this is not like her other books. She unabashedly stands on her soap-box in-between short essays about her far. Did you know, each food item in a typical U.S. meal traveled 1500 miles to the table? That energy calories to produce and transport food far outweigh the energy calories we get from the food?

Just like with human pathogens and antibiotics, plant pathogens and weeds are growing more resistant to pesticides and herbicides. Crop losses were 7% in 1948 when 50 million pounds of pesticides were applied. In 2000, losses were 13% when 2 BILLION pounds of pesticides were used. No wonder half of our new food team works exclusively on pesticide analysis!

I have noticed at our store here there are signs in the produce area that say which items are purchased locally. I'm going to start paying more attention to them. I herein promise to make some better choices than asparagus in November. Really.

compliments of the American Farm Bureau

2009-11-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

looks like we have just a little something extra to be thankful for.

second week on the job

2009-11-13T10:01:00.001-08:00

Like many new jobs, this one has been hurry-up-and-wait. I finally got into the lab with a collection of folks from 3 other groups doing something I won't be doing, but the workflow is close enough it is no-nevermind. It seems to me that an awful lot of molecular biology is pretty much the same - use pipettes to take teensy amounts of liquid out of an assortment of vials, each at its own time and temperature, with various incubations as prescribed. Later, you get a number, which means something-or-other. There, now that doesn't sound so hard, does it? But I did enjoy the wrap-up session, sitting around tables with other scientists and each of us brainstorming about how to improve what we did, as the set-up in its current configuration is prone to leaks. It's been too long since I have gotten to participate in an intellectual exercise of this sort, and I have missed it. Then I got to sit in a meeting all day and listen to development folks drone on and ON about new software, but it had the advantage that I met some folks on my new team and got a free lunch.

fallout from the new job

2009-11-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

Sos I'm spending a few days reading food industry websites and gathering background for the new job while I'm waiting for my lab stuff to get set up and people to tell me what to do. Several weeks ago I ran into the Monterey Bay Aquarium's guide to Seafood Watch Seafood Recommendations, and saw that line-caught Alaskan Salmon was on the recommended list, but that farmed salmon was on the avoid list. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx
This surprised me as I had sort of assumed that farming was a good thing. Well, it is, for catfish and shellfish. But not for salmon. Today I found a short video clip that explains why. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eggrGn0V0fg

I promise not to turn this into a soapbox. But sometimes, there are just some things you need to know to make the right choices. And now you know, too.